Prairie Ridge hazing investigation continues
Crystal Lake Police said Friday they are still investigating reports of hazing in Prairie Ridge High School's wrestling program and hope to turn information over to the McHenry County State's Attorney's office by early next week. No charges have yet been filed.
Police launched the inquiry after school officials received an anonymous Jan. 28 letter claiming a student was held down by other wrestlers, groped and slapped several times in the abdomen, causing minor injuries. After an internal school investigation revealed possible criminal activity, school officials notified police.
Investigators were still in the process of interviewing students Friday, Police Chief David Linder said. The investigation is looking at all levels of the program, as well as the coaches.
At the school, Prairie Ridge officials deferred all calls to Crystal Lake High School District 155 Spokesman Jeff Puma.
Citing the Illinois Student Records Act, Puma declined to comment Friday as to whether the district had taken any disciplinary action against players or coaches.
He said that information about the dangers of hazing had been communicated to wrestlers by coaches before the incident.
Puma was unable to provide information on how or if students are educated about bullying and hazing during the school day.
As a district, he said, each high school's student handbook features a policy aligned directly with the state statute. According to that statute, hazing that results in instances of death or "great bodily harm" is considered a felony. All other hazing is a misdemeanor.
Puma said that "teachers at least in some instances are using the instance as a teachable moment, just going over what the ills of this sort of behavior would be. There's a lot of rumors going around. We're doing our best to make it as positive a situation as we can."
Wrestling practices and meets are continuing on schedule as the investigation progresses.
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<li><a href="/story/?id=356754">Crystal Lake cops investigating reports of hazing <span class="date">[02/04/10]</span></a></li>
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